Keeping martial arts alive

Kumar Paudel completed his Diploma of Wushu in 1999 AD and later in Kung Fu and has been a coach for 23 years. He has guided many youngsters in training during his career. 

“Since I started training over here, lots of students have been coming and going. Lots of students started as learners, also ended as black belts and are also teaching in different other places", he says.

There are different kinds of martial arts like Karate, Wushu, Taekwondo, Kung Fu, etc. Though these sports are different from each other, their bases are the same. "The base of all martial arts is the same, it's the method of teaching that is different", Paudel says. "There are different types of Kung Fu like Dragon Kung fu, Shaolin Kung fu. Kung Fu is base but they are different types having different techniques", he adds. 

Martial arts was very popular amongst people, especially youngsters when it was new in society. However, with time the popularity and interest of people is slowly fading away. "As per my observation, very few of them continue training", he says. "As they grow older, they have more responsibility, have to study, get a proper job which might also be the reason why very few continue it professionally", he explains. "If we start but cannot give continuity to it, then there is no use of it", he adds. 

Sports like Karate, Taekwondo, boxing etc. Were introduced a long time ago and was pretty popular amongst people too. Because there were only a few sports available, lots of engagement was seen. While there were only 8-10 sports registered in the past, there are almost 200 different sports being registered at present. "People want to try new things. Nowadays they have more options even inside martial arts such as Muay Thai, Kung Fu, etc", he added. Currently, there are about 150 students in his Dojo, 'Kung Fu Fight Club Nepal'.  

Even after dedicating 23 years of his life to training young Kung Fu enthusiasts, Paudel is still determined to continue. , “I always want to keep myself physically fit. Teaching my students what I have learned regularly feels good is also a great motivation for me", he says.